It IS fun to do sleuthing! And the things you learn when ya do it.

Thank you for finding out for me. (My RA has made me reeeeeeally tired from my garage sale foray this morning and my brain has decided to go on strike. I should've taken a nap when I got home but I had thread to play with. And, of course, that was much more important to do, doncha know. )

OurWorkbench, you are so very helpful!! Thank you.

I'd never have figured out how to work the zipper foot without your scans. These feet really are unique, aren't they.

And I own fake silk thread. That's something too. I'm sure I'll find a use for it one of these days.

Thank you again!

I am lucky the two machines I use all the time like coats and clark threads which is what I buy.

Yes, those zippers were unique and really did need a special foot for them. A lot of the snap on feet sets now have a metal one, but the plastic ones work fine. It was neat that they had the adapters for the different machines. I reviewed the other ones I have. The Talon one came with a short shank, high shank adapters, but not a top clamp one which they call front mount. For the slant shank you could slide the bottom piece on a narrow regular zipper foot. Both the Unique and the Coats and Clarks have a single piece for both the high shank and slant shank - just had to put them on differently.

I found the patent for the holder for the needles at http://patentimages.storage.googleap.../US3500998.pdf

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.
Not affiliated with off-site link(s)

Aha, the patent was for the needle holder, not the needles themselves. (Makes sense since needles have only been around for a millenia or two.) Good sleuthing on your part!

Super! I just paid $15 for 6 spools of thread! And that was because "Buy 3, Get 3 free"!

The Sulky thread that has a beautiful sheen is probably for machine embroidery. They make rayon and cotton.
Elastic thread, if it's over 2 years old, I wouldn't use it.
fusible thread, I have had some for 10 years and it's still good.
Isacord is usually embroidery thread.
Usually the top of the thread will tell what type it is. Also, watch out for thread that said Quilting. It may be for hand quilting only.
Sounds like got a deal. .

WOW! You really won big on that Mettler thread. Around here, it goes for about $7 a spool although I haven't bought any for a couple of years so may be more by now. I keep a giant cheese puff jar where I put my empty spools into. I find it helpful sometimes when I don't think I am getting anything done to look at my jar with the empty spools and think "well I must have done something, I have empty spools"

I was just thinking about what I was going to do with the Sulky and Isacord thread. I don't have too many spools but I also don't do machine embroidery. I'll figure out something.

Good to know about the elastic thread. Dumb question but, if it doesn't last much longer than around 2 years, why even sew with it to begin with? Seriously, whatever it was used on wouldn't be good for very long.

If you don't do embroidery, you can always sell it and probably get some of your money back. Please don't take my word for the elastic thread, I just haven't had that good luck with it. I make a sundress that you sew elastic thread about 1 inch apart on the top. It looked really nice when I finished, but after the 2nd summer, the elastic wasn't tight anymore. There are several different brands of elastic thread, so it may have just been the one I was using. Maybe someone else on here has had better luck.